legal

Ethics are both personal and administrative. Your personal ethics may be one thing, whereas the ethics you are required to follow under the guidelines set forth by the American Nursing Association or by the National Paralegal Association, may conflict with your own morality Nevertheless, you have a duty to follow such ethics parameters if you want to keep your job and avoid being sued for malpractice or violating confidentiality provisions.

While this article focuses on paralegal and medical professionals, many of these principles are also highly relevant within any situation where you are handling someone’s private information. Here are my top 11 ways to avoid violating professional ethics guidelines:

1. Study- If you are a nurse, study the ANA handbook. If you are a paralegal, study the NPA‘s handbook regarding ethics. Also, study the individual company policies provided to you once hired by a company provided to you at orientation. What you don’t know can get you killed!

2. Don’t Gossip: Clients are going to approach you with all sorts of embarrassing stories about their lives. Medical conditions, legal issues, stories of infidelity, infertility, and other stomach turning scenarios will be common place in any area of client relations. You must handle these scenarios with care. If you wouldn’t want it to be shared with the public, then its safe to assume that your client wouldn’t either. Practice empathy, and put yourself in their shoes.

3. Be mindful of eavesdropping: When speaking to a client on the phone or in person, be sure that these conversations are done so in a quiet, secure, and private area. If these conversations are accidentally heard by a third party, it could result in negative consequences.

4. Secure documents: Any paperwork relating to company secrets or client information shouldn’t lay around openly for passerbyers to see. Such documents should also be shredded, not crumpled up in a trash bin. Identity thieves and spies are everywhere. Do not make their jobs easier by mishandling documents.

5. Do not administer actions without permission: Unless you are directed by a licensed doctor or lawyer, nurses and paralegals are NOT allowed to give a personalized diagnosis, legal advice, or administer treatment. Nurses and Paralegals must also refrain from taking action when the client does not consent. Paralegals and nurses are “foot-soldiers”. We are to operate mostly by direct command, and rarely act independently, and even when we do, we are highly monitored.

6. Avoid the media: Addressing the media in regards to a client or the company you work for without authorization is a big NO-NO. You run the risk of defamation, releasing company trade-secrets, and other legal consequences.

7. Don’t be an accomplice: If you see your supervising Doctor or attorney doing something highly unethical or illegal, you have the right to speak up and file a report with the authorities. Do not become an accomplice to illegal activity.

8. Think twice before becoming a rouge: Becoming a whistleblower or acting on your own because it “feels right”, could make you go down in history as a brave hero and save lives, however, it will not be without consequences. Acting outside of your assigned role, even if it saves a life could still cost you your job or open you up for a malpractice lawsuit or legal sanctions. Before you try to become the next Edward Snowden, remember, there will be consequences.

9. Stay up to date: Ethics guidelines are subject to change. Most nurses and paralegals are required or encouraged to attend furthering education courses or “refresher courses”. These could serve you well so that you do not fall out of the loop for current industry standards.

10. Pledge your loyalty to your client: Your job is to be an advocate for your client and an assistant to your superior. Embrace this role fully! If you think an alternative remedy is in order, express this to your supervising Doctor or Attorney. Do this away from the client in order to protect the honor of your supervisor as to not undermine him. Also, do not conspire or speak with any outside forces who may work against the interests of your client and/or employer. You are being paid for such loyalty. Any actions you take which could be interpreted as being “disloyal” to either the client or your employer, could result in termination or a lawsuit.

11. Swallow your pride: Paralegals and Nurses should take great care in picking a field or concentrated area that lines up with their conscious. If you cannot fathom defending a murderer or thief, you may want to stay away from criminal law and try bankruptcy law instead. You can also ask to be removed from certain cases or refuse to work with certain clients who make you feel uncomfortable. However, regardless of how hard you try to manage your career, you will ultimately be forced to take actions that go against your own personal beliefs. It’s the nature of any business and something all employees must learn to accept. Do your best to minimize such circumstances but also learn how to justify such actions if absolutely necessary. Those who fail to rationalize their jobs will fall victim to alcoholism and other unhealthy coping methods if they do not learn how to cope naturally. Legal and medical professionals will benefit greatly from having a support system in friends and family.

The philosophy and administrative guidelines that govern the idea of “ethics” can get very complicated. If you are unsure about whether or not you may be violating your company’s standards of ethics, it never hurts to ask!

In 2011, Barack Obama signed into law, the “America Invents Act”. After his administration received outcries from the public stating that the patent system had become too “slow” and “bogged down”, the president himself addressed congress to gather a convention whereas a new law could be created in order to stream-line the process. “What used to take days to patent, now takes years!” is what many exclaimed. Which is true, however, the population was much lower 150 years ago and society was less complicated.

Before the America Invents Act of 2011 passed, our US Patent system operated under the “Who invented it first?” principle. Just because a corporation or wealthy aristocrat filed a patent on an invention, didn’t mean he/she would necessarily get the legal protections and exclusive rights to the invention. At any point, someone could challenge or argue the filing, showing evidence that they were the original innovator who created the product, therefore they would be granted the privilege of holding the patent right.

This principle has bogged down the system in recent years because of the many challenges made towards filings, but has always protected “indie” inventors, i.e.- poor inventors who couldn’t afford to immediately file things into the USPO. Filing a patent isn’t cheap for someone who may be working a normal 9 to 5 job. Our old system ensured that those who actually created an invention would receive credit for their work instead of giving leeway to those who could simply steal someone’s research and could afford to file it under their capacity, essentially profiting from someone’s original work.

Prior to 2011, the USA, was the only country in the world, to operate under the “Who invented it first?” principle instead of the “First to File” principle. With America’s newfound obsession to “Be like the rest of the world”, we have inadvertently shot ourselves in the foot. Since the passing of this law, low-income inventors feel completely shut out of the patent system. In order to protect themselves, they have to either rush the development of their invention in order to be “The first to File”, or they have to patent each stage of development. Both tactics can be costly in terms of legal fees and result in a product that is rushed.

Under the old system, people felt less rushed to get something patented, so long as they felt confident that they could prove they were the original creators. Now, under our new system, none of that matters. To make matters worse, the America Invents Act contains tons of “ear-mark” language that exempts banks from having to pay royalties towards inventions. Many small business owners and low/middle class citizens are calling the America Invents Act the “Anti-Inventor Big Business Earmark Act ”

Big corporations can afford to file as much paper work and legal documents needed in order to secure a patent. Under the old system, if someone’s invention was stolen and then filed in as their own creation, the filer could be sued very easily. In fact, many people are abusing the new system as a way to scam competitors. People may pose as an investor or journalist, looking for feedback from inventors, then take their ideas, patent them, and then sue the original creators for trying to market their own inventions!

(Nalini-Global owner, Randell Stroud, with David Kappos)

Even though I disagree with his support for the “America Invents Act”, earlier this month, I had the chance to spend the afternoon with a man who is largely responsible for the passing of this law, David Kappos. After his lecture, we got a chance to hang out, discuss cryptocurrencies and other issues affecting IP Law. David served as the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office from 2009 to 2013. I really enjoyed picking his brain! He was a really nice guy, with a ton of wisdom in regards to IP law, however, I still disagree with his stance on this particular law.

The good news is, even though small time inventors may feel as if they are left out of the patent game, they can still somewhat protect their works through copywrite and trademarks, which are far less expensive to enforce and create. While it may not keep large corporations from totally stealing your products, it can create a legal deterrent, as defending copywrite infringements aren’t cheap. However, be forewarned, the new norm is patent lawsuits is the award attorney fees to the defendant if he can prove that your suit is without merit or there are special circumstances as was the case in Octane Fitness, LLC v. Icon Health & Fitness, Inc.

(***FYI- Patents refer to the inventions themselves, whereas copywrites refer to the expression of an idea through literature or artistic works,)

This brings me to my next point. As a Libertarian, I can’t help but to wonder if the patent system should exist at all. Yes, if someone totally steals your design, part for part, gear for gear, even using the same logo and name for their product, we could consider this a form of fraud. Similarly comparing to an event where someone was using your legal name without your permission.

However, from a free-market perspective, if someone where to create a similar product, under a different name and logo, that performed better and was less expensive, should patent law keep him out of business? My answer is “no”! The Free-market, when allowed to function properly, correctly picks winners and losers, and does not use tax-payer money to bail-out failing products. I feel that the idea of patents themselves have turned too much into a way to monopolize a product so that companies can preserve their piece of the economic pie. Good ideas cannot be locked away from society to use.

On the other hand, it would be totally unfair for an inventor, who has spent years researching and developing a product, become a victim to marketing theft. If I were to create a website brand that looked exactly like “Reebok”, and all of my products looked exactly like the original Reebok sports brand with identical designs, with an identical logo, and then I became a millionaire, is this not a form of theft? It is worth discussing.

Without copywrite, trademark, and patent laws existing to some degree, it would be difficult to become fans of any writer, musician, or developer, because no one would know which brilliant mind that these amazing works were coming from. Unchecked “copycats” would dilute innovation and encourage stagnation of development.

On the contrary, government rules around patents, trademarks, and copywrites that become too intrusive, overbearing, and burdensome, will eventually create a wall between small-time creators reaching recognition and success, especially when you consider that their competitors will most likely be huge corporations and wealthy aristocrats who can afford the rules of the unfair legal system.

Like in all matters of the law, we have to strike a balance between liberty and security. Protecting the logical rights of men and their properties, while not creating monopolies that only the wealthy and the governments themselves can understand or afford to participate in.

That’s the problem with our current legal system. The legal system is a glorified socialized “gun” that we use to point at one another in a “civilized” courtroom. However, it doesn’t make society any fair or safer when that shared use of force can only be afforded by certain groups of people. Namely, the extremely poor who can claim to be “indigent” , or the extremely rich who can afford the best lawyers or to pay off judges. It is the middle-class who has no remedy. They don’t qualify for low-income exceptions, and they cannot afford a legal team of their own. Where do they go?

Regardless of your political ideology, it is clear– The America Invents Act needs to be scraped. If the US Patent system is slow, bogged down, and underfunded, we can come up with a new reform that doesn’t exclude up and coming inventors who cannot afford to keep up with expensive and tumultuous “first to file” system, which hasn’t spurred any major innovations in other countries.

Airplanes, cars, Televisions, the iphone/smartphone, all of these were produced under the “First to Invent” principle. These amazing inventions have changed the shape of our entire sociology. If such great inventions came from our old way of doing things, why should we seek to reinvent the wheel? Wheels are round for a reason, they are designed to “roll”. This new law is like someone suggesting that wheels should be triangular instead.

What do you all think? Should the America Invents Act remain, should we go back to the old system, or should we scrap both methodologies all together and create a brand new way of looking at patents?

Randell Stroud

Nalini-Global

2018

Randell Stroud is an experienced paralegal specializing in constitutional, bankruptcy, human rights, and international law. He has authored several books including, “Global Human Trafficking in the Family Law Courts”.

On August 22nd, 2017, I was invited to be a guest speaker for the “Decentralize Your Life Tour”. A national tour spearheaded by Libertarian Activist, Derrick Broze, who often finds himself in the cross-hairs of government through his independent journalism. Mr.Broze covered the “Standing Rock” protests in the Dakotas and has traveled the world advocating for a freer society. Being involved in protests have often caused him legal troubles, which is common in the practice of civil disobedience.

His message was that of, “Opting out” of the system and finding non-governmental solutions to societies problems. A notion that seems to have much support these days in light of government sponsored controversies which so frequently headline our news media outlets today.

However, when it was my turn to speak, my message, albeit sympathetic to Mr.Broze’s message of “Laissez Faire Capitalism” and “community works”, I reminded the audience that our current system is here to stay for a long time and we must learn to harness its positivity while reducing its negativity, until it is potentially no longer needed.. Additionally, those who work in government are human beings with hearts who are capable of doing great change for the world themselves and should not be looked down upon. Changing a paradigm isn’t something that happens overnight, it requires a multi-tiered approach.

I outlined several abnormalities and injustices found today within the legal system and what we can do to educate and empower ourselves while in tandem, working with government officials. Reforms and innovations are both equally effective at creating a better world for those who live in it. With the rise of the Alt-Right and Alt-Left, (Neo-Nazis Vs Antifa), we are living in very polarizing times, however, I believe a middle-ground in these debates are just what the doctor ordered!

Watch the video below to check out my introductory speech. In the speech, I make reference to my shadow report regarding corruption in the family law courts. That report can be found on the “Human Rights Reporting Page” on this website.

The United States , as well as the international community, will be participating in a global study to potentially reschedule a host of illegal and/or regulated substances including Ketamine, Carfentanil. CBD (cannabidiol) and various other narcotics. Nalini-Global has submitted an official comment to the convention and will also be submitting this article to the secretariat of the World Health Organization as secondary material to be referenced at the later stages of the study.

An official notice by the FDA was released regarding the convention and its procedures: (Read as follows)

“The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is requesting interested persons to submit comments concerning abuse potential, actual abuse, medical usefulness, trafficking, and impact of scheduling changes on availability for medical use of 17 drug substances. These comments will be considered in preparing a response from the United States to the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding the abuse liability and diversion of these drugs. WHO will use this information to consider whether to recommend that certain international restrictions be placed on these drugs. This notice requesting comments is required by the Controlled Substances Act (the CSA).”

As you can tell from the notice, the FDA as well as the World Health Organization, are inviting persons of interests as well as international organizations, to be involved in the discussion of rescheduling certain “drugs” or having certain ones completely removed from scheduling. We here at Nalini-Global have decided to throw our hats into the discussion and submit an official comment to be reviewed during the convention which is set to be discussed after the deadline for submitting comments has passed. (September 13th, 2017)Each member state must provide an official response to the secretariat of the World Health Organization by September 30th,2017.

Upon first glance, many readers might say, “Drugs are bad! There is no discussion to be had!”. However, many countries have decriminalized all drugs or have put more focus into “harm reduction strategies”. Countries like Portugal and Switzerland, treat drug addiction as a medical problem, not as a criminal one. ( Mind you, “decriminalization” and “legalization” are not the same thing. )

In the scope of this convention, various substances are being looked at to see whether or not they have any medical value and/or whether or not these substances should be reclassified or possibly completely removed from the drug “schedules”. What are “schedules”? Drug schedules are essentially a chart that labels certain substances in levels of potential danger from use. There are Five Schedules. Schedule I drugs include, cocaine, heroine, LSD, Marijuana(including CBD products), Peyote, Ecstasy, and a few others. According to the Schedule I guidelines created by the FDA, Schedule I drugs are considered “highly addictive” and pose a potential for abuse.

Currently, the United States of America has the largest prison population in the world, more than Russia or China combined. Over 70% of American inmates are incarcerated on drug related charges. This prison industrial complex creates economic barriers and deep scars on those effected. While it is Nalini-Global’s position that all drugs should be decriminalized in a way that is similar to what Portugal and Switzerland have implemented, we have decided to focus on “Cannabis”, specifically “Cannabidiol” also known as “CBD”.

While some argue the benefits of psychedelics such as Peyote, LSD, and other substances, pushing for decriminalization in the United States appears to be a far-cry in the midst of America’s 30 year long, “War on Drugs”. Alas, pushing for the legalization and/or decriminalization of Cannabis, specifically CBD, makes alot more sense. Hence, why so many comments submitted towards this convention have specifically requested that CBD be removed from the schedules completely.

While some may argue that marijuana is dangerous because of its intoxicating effects and should remain illegal (except for under the supervision of a doctor for medical purposes), such arguments cannot logically be made towards CBD. CBD is one of the cannabanoids found in Cannabis and its related plant, “Hemp”. CBD is non-intoxicating and acts on “CB2” receptors in the body, while THC (the intoxicating compound found in marijuana) , mainly acts on “CB1” receptors in the body. These receptors influence pain, inflammation responses, mood, sleep patterns, and other functions in the body.

That’s right! The human body is actually built with cannabanoid receptors, as if nature intended for this plant to be consumed. Most Marijuana strains are bred and sold with very high THC content. THC is the chemical that gives the user a sense of euphoria, pleasure, and does have pain relief and anti-tumor fighting properties, however, it can cause paranoia and impairment. CBD is one of the compounds found in marijuana and hemp that contains no intoxicating effects yet retains most of the medical benefits that THC has to offer and then some! Calming anxiety, reducing inflammation and pain, inducing relaxation, stopping seizures, the list goes on!

When we hear the word, “Drug”, we immediately think of intoxication and danger. However, CBD poses no danger. Even in very high dosages, the only reported side-effect was lowered-blood pressure which returned to normal when use was discontinued.

Celebrities such as Michael J Fox, Montel Williams, and Whoopi Goldberg have also publicly endorsed the use of CBD’s for their own health issues. Michael J Fox, actor and comedian, stated that CBD was the only thing that reduced his tremors caused by Parkinson’s disease. Montell Williams stated, quote, “Snowboarding and Cannabis saved my life and have helped me combat my disease of Muscular Sclerosis.”

When THC and CBD are ingested in balanced amounts as such found in cannabis strains like, “Harlequin”, the medicinal effects of cannabis are fully realized. However, the Hemp plant, which contains almost no THC, does have a high amount of CBD. CBD by itself is not quite as powerful alone without the other dozen cannabanoids supporting it, which are naturally found in Cannabis, yet it remains extremely beneficially and extremely safe. In my opinion, CBD should be regulated as if it were a vitamin C tablet, to be sold in stores everywhere. Due to it not have any major adverse effects from use or found to be intoxicating in any shape or form, it makes no sense for it to be included in the FDA’s drug schedules.

To read Nalini-Global’s official comment submitted to the Convention on Narcotics, please refer to the information below.

Over the weekend, Nalini-Global had the opportunity to explore the Nashville Night-Market, a monthly event that takes place in the heart of metro-Nashville. A slew of local vendors and organizations set up shop in an old abandoned warehouse space now used for event spacing popularly known as “The Bridge Below Space” near the Farmers market, which is owned and managed by a kind-hearted man named “AJ Sankari”.

During the event, we met fire-spinners, t-shirt makers, singers, dancers, and a variety of other performers and vendors. However, there was one particular booth that really caught our attention. Nicole Brandt, of “Poverty and The Arts”, a local non-profit organization, had a showcase of handmade jewelry, paintings, and other products. Alas, these were not just any typical flea-market items, these pieces had a story behind them. Each product has a small photo and paragraph attached to the item telling a special story about the artist. The stories were quite shocking and very motivational. (Keep reading!)

“Poverty and the Arts” was started by Nicole Brandt, a graduate of Belmont university, who became curious of the homeless and the reasons behind their situation. As a student on campus, she began to approach the homeless and have real in-depth conversations with them. What she learned from them forever changed her perspective on the homeless. The common stigma of homelesness soon washed away in her eyes.

Many of the homeless that she became friends with had Bachelors degrees, were extremely talented in art, were former business owners, did not have drug problems, and were not criminals of any sort. They were simply people who got caught in a momentum of bad luck. One particular homeless woman that Ms.Brandt works with is a master painter, artist, and has a Bachelors Degree in internal medicine and is seeking to complete med school once she finds housing. She has bad credit, no family, and cannot find employment that pays enough to sustain her while attending school, thus the streets have been here home for the last two years. The easy response is to say, “Get a job”, yet when we consider that one would have to work over 80 hours per week working minimum wage just to afford housing in the metro nashville area, the situation becomes more complex. And that doesn’t include transportation costs, groceries, electricity, and the very real prospect of being refused housing if your credit score isn’t high enough. Where do these people go then?

Crushing debt, divorce, job loss, a criminal record, bad credit, lack of family support, low paying jobs, missed child support payments resulting in a loss of drivers license, medical bills, legal issues, car trouble that results in a job loss…..the struggles of daily living and the cost of living may not seem fathomable to those who come from stable families or who have always been blessed with high paying careers, or who have never suffered a set-back, but for many of us, both young and old, poverty is just right around the corner for many Americans. Numerous statistics estimate that nearly half of Americans only make enough to cover their monthly expenses and are one emergency away from being in debt or losing everything.

Mrs.Brandt decided to take action and approached the homeless here in Nashville and specifically sought out those who have artistic ability. Through her organization, she offers workshops in entrepreneurship and assists the homeless in selling their products. And that is exactly what she did at the Night-Market event. She actively sells the products created by the homeless themselves, whereas the homeless artist gets to keep nearly all of the profit gained from the items being sold, with a small percentage being vested back into the nonprofit’s operational expenses.

Since the creation of the project back in 2009, most of the homeless that she has worked with have been able to pay their way through school, make enough money to feed themselves, gain artist sponsorship, start businesses and many other positive consequences as a result. Other local Non-profits such as “Open-Table”, (A non profit specializing in affordable housing) has also joined forces with “Poverty and the Arts.” We at “Nalini-Global”,also had the chance to share our message of international unity, human rights, and universal rights with Ms.Brandt. In the future, we hope to offer seminars on legal rights, contract formations, and host boxing seminars for those interested in learning how to become a coach in the sport and/or as a form of physical fitness to benefit their overall well-being.

For those who have no family to turn to, who have fallen on hard times, or continue to suffer due to life circumstances, we have to become more compassionate and offer better solutions than just yelling out , “Get a job.” For many, simply getting a job is not enough to cure their needs. While there are those who are homeless because of the poor choices they made who also have no desire to better their situation, there are just as many if not more, who are simply victims of a marginalized growing sub-culture of people who are being forced to forego an education due to cost or work multiple jobs to barely make ends meet. Many people in their late 20’s and early 30’s are being forced to return home to live with family, have multiple roommates with strangers or even worse, ….attempting to live off credit cards which ultimately lead to crushing debt, all in the face of trying to survive the daily grind.

Governor Bill Haslam has responded to the issue of homelessness by passing a “no camping” law back in 2010 to combat protestors who slept on the steps of Legislative plaza, which inadvertently made it illegal to be homeless in the state of Tennessee. Despite the mass number of frivolous arrests and blowback from public opinion, the law has yet to be reversed or modified.

For many who have no support from family, they are left to the mercy of the welfare system, cronyism in the marketplace, or exploitation in the workplace. Some say that the answer is “socialism”, while others say we need to remove vendor regulations and allow people to enter the free-market with less red-tape. Regardless of liberal or conservative economic philosophies, I think there is an answer that lies in a separate realm. .EMPATHY

If we invest in our neighbors voluntarily, or take 5 minutes out of our day to point someone in the right direction who may have never had mentorship, it could make all the difference in elevating our city, our state, our nation, our continents, and eventually the entire world with a simple shift in our persepctive. When we remove the arbitrary lines drawn between us on a map, what we have left is human beings who all seek the same things; food, clothing, shelter, and love. And it is through love that we find our passions while also helping others find theirs.

If you are interested in learning more about “Poverty And the Arts”, please check out their website at: